3:03 PM,
Apr. 9, 2013

San Francisco 49ers kicker David Akers talks with reporters on Jan. 31, 2013, in New Orleans.

Written by

A day after 42-year-old Jason Hanson retired from the NFL last week, the Detroit Lions signed 38-year-old David Akers as his replacement.
"We tried to get a little bit younger at the kicker position," Lions general manager Martin Mayhew joked after Hanson's retirement news conference today.
Akers will be just the Lions' third full-time kicker in the last 33 years, and while there's no chance he holds down the job as long as his predecessors -- Hanson spent his entire 21-year career with the Lions, replacing Eddie Murray, who kicked for the team in 1980-91 -- Mayhew said he's a security ...